SUPPORTING FAMILIES<o></o>
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The Resilience Package will provide additional support for families and the community during this downturn. The key benefit that Singaporeans will derive from the package will come from the effort to preserve jobs through the Jobs initiatives – the Jobs Credit, the Workfare Income Supplement Scheme (WIS) Special Payment and Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR). The Government will also complement the Jobs initiatives with the following:
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·<!--[endif]-->Direct assistance to households
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·<!--[endif]-->Targeted help for the most vulnerable groups
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·<!--[endif]-->Support for charitable giving and the community
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(A) Direct Assistance to Households <o></o>
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(A1) Goods and Services Tax (GST) Credits and Senior Citizens’ Bonus<o></o>
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To help households cope with their cash-flow problems arising from unemployment or reduced incomes, the Government will double the GST Credits and Senior Citizens’ Bonus that citizens will receive in 2009.
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This additional tranche will be paid on <st1:date month="3" day="1" year="2009" w:st="on">1 March 2009</st1:date> and will be on top of what citizens will receive in July 2009 as part of the 2007 GST Offset Package. About 2.4 million Singaporeans are eligible for the GST Credits including about 734,000 elderly Singaporeans who will also benefit from the Senior Citizens’ Bonus.
The amount of GST Credits and Senior Citizens' Bonus citizens can receive in 2009 will like the previous year depend on:
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(i) The Annual Value (AV) of their residence in 2008<!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]-->; and
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(ii) Their Assessable Income (AI) for Year of Assessment 2008; and
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(iii) Their age in the year of payout.
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<hr size="1" width="33%" align="left"> <!--[endif]--> <!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--> This applies to Singaporeans whose NRIC address has changed in 2008, and newly eligible Singaporeans. For Singaporeans whose NRIC address has not changed, the amount of benefits will depend on the Annual Value (AV) of their residence in 2007.